Review: Regatta Uproar Soft-shell Jacket

I was asked recently if I’d like to review a couple of different Soft-shell jackets from the range at Outdoor Look. I’ve never been particularly convinced of the need for a soft-shell and I’ve never owned one as a result. However they were to be provided free and I can keep them after the review, so I thought “nothing to lose” and I always enjoy doing these reviews, so I had a browse on their site and chose two jackets from Regatta.

The first one I’ve tested is the Regatta Uproar Soft-shell. This comes in a range of garish colours, or this rather tasteful Navy, which is what I went for. Out of the bag it weighed 616g for an XXL, so that should be a maximum weight, as most people will probably take a smaller size. It retails at about £43, but the price on Outdoor Look is about £30.

Regatta Uproar Soft-shell Jacket

I’m a big chap, particularly around the waist and chest, so I needed the XXL for those dimensions. I’m also 6’4” tall, so I tend to need the biggest fit for things like body length and arm length. The Uproar was just about big enough for me. Across the waist and chest I have enough room for a base layer and probably a very thin fleece. In the arms I felt like I could have done with another inch at least, and possibly two, but the body length was about right. If you’re a tall guy, with a slim build I’m guessing you’re going to struggle with arm length in anything less than an XXL.

XXL is roomy, even for a fat bloke like me

Soft-shell jackets are designed for the sort of weather I was walking in last weekend, mostly dry but with light showers during the day. The sort of day that doesn’t quite justify a waterproof jacket, but where a fleece alone would probably result in multiple stops to sling on the coat.

The jacket was perfect for the walk I did. It repels water without being too hot, as you can see from the picture below it worked well during the light shower I had in the morning. I used it all day and it was generally windproof, it didn’t make me sweat and it zips up quite high for when the temperature dropped. There is no hood, but if you need a hood then you probably need a waterproof jacket.

Repels water in light showers

The one and, if I’m quite honest, major downfall of this jacket, is the pockets. It comes with two side pockets, but they aren’t deep enough and there is no chest pocket, so nowhere to put your map or GPS (or mobile phone in my case). The side pockets are zipped, but they are hampered by the hip belt on my rucksack, so I couldn’t put the phone in there. Although it would have been safe from falling out, it was inaccessible.

In the end I had to use an inside flap, low down, next to the side pocket, which may have been designed as an internal pocket, but that meant that every time I needed to check my position, I had to unzip most of the way down and fish out the phone.

For those intermediate days when a waterproof is too much, this Regatta Soft-shell would be fine. I could probably live with the pocket problem, in favour of the flexibility of the jacket itself. It’s certainly a two-season piece of clothing and it will live in the boot of my car for the next time I’m out just in case the weather is suitable.

1 Response

“I’ve never been particularly convinced of the need for a soft-shell” I think that says it all, because level of confidence in our foreknowledge of how hard the rain will be is so low. It looks as if the rain will come through the zip too. The only justification for such a garment is its cheapness, and it might appeal to a casual stroller rather than someone conscious of how much weight he has to carry and the performance he needs for a wide range of weather conditions.

Without saying it, this is sort of the conclusion I came to. I wouldn’t carry this with me, it’s too uni-dimensional and the weight penalty is therefore too great to carry on the off chance the conditions will be right to use it. It will stay in the car boot and I’d need to assess the conditions at the start of the walk as to whether they’d be suitable for the jacket or not.

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I'm fast approaching my dotage it seems, with various bits of my body refusing to work in the way they used to, but I still manage to drag my sorry load up a few hills every now and again. Lover of the Yorkshire Dales, fell-walker, trig-pointer, peak-bagger, Wainwright-er & Pennine Way author. I have a passion for long paths, malt whisky, fast cars & Man City. I love getting comments in the blog, so please don't be shy, stop by and say hello! You can email me at stuart at lonewalker dot net